“Teg, the merchant, won’t mind. If Midnight wants to come with us, that’s his choice.”
“All right then.” Smiling, I followed Kalen up the side of the mountain, passing the cave where we’d camped that first night. Now, it felt so long ago, as if it had happened in another lifetime. We’d only been gone a couple of weeks, but it felt like years. So much had changed. So much had happened.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the next few months and years might bring. Mornings spent training with Kalen. Evenings feasting in the Great Hall with Mother and Val while we dreamed of a better world. Hours packed around the hearth, listening to Niamh’s tales, hearing Alastair’s laugh, and seeing Toryn’s kind smile.
Kalen would win this fight against the storm fae, and then we’d turn our focus south, to the day when King Oberon would finally fall.
There was a piece of it that I didn’t dare hope for. What had happened between me and Kalen in Itchen had been…intoxicating. I couldn’t lie to myself and pretend I didn’t want that with him, and so much more. There was something about Kalen that drew me in. He saw me for who I was, and he understood me in the same way I understood him. When I looked into his eyes, I felt as though I saw the core truth of who he was.
But I didn’t know if it would ever be more than what it had been—a moment of passion in the middle of a storm of danger. We hadn’t spoken a word about it since, and we’d been traveling at such a furious pace that I’d barely had time to eat and catch my breath, let alone anything else.
After another long night spent trekking up the mountain, Kalen and I strode through the looming city gates on tired, aching feet. My eyes were puffy, and my throat felt a little raw from all the mist I’d sucked into my lungs, trying desperately to keep up. I needed to sit down, and then sleep for days.
But first, I needed to see my mother and Val. The thought of them spurred me on.
Niamh sprinted out of the castle and threw her arms around Kalen’s neck, Alastair just behind her. Tears were in her eyes when she pulled back and scanned her king’s face. “You’re here.”
He grasped her hands in his, pressing his forehead against hers. When he spoke, his voice was rough with emotion. “And you’re all right. How’s Toryn?”
“So much better. He’s waiting for you in his room,” she said.
Alastair thumped Kalen on the back, and then turned to me with a smile. “Glad to see you’re alive and well, too, little dove.”
“Where are they?” I blurted, knowing how rude that came across, but I couldn’t wait even a second longer to see them. I had hoped they’d come out to meet us with Niamh and Alastair.
Niamh cocked her head as she pulled away from Kalen. “Where’s who?”
“My mother. And my friend, Val.”
Niamh’s brows furrowed as she glanced at Alastair and then at Kalen. “I’m sorry, Tessa. They’re not here. Should they be?”
My heart pounded my ribs as Kalen frowned. “We got a letter from you. Boudica brought it to me with your first letter about the storm fae attack. It said they’re here.”
I tried to calm my panic as Kalen pulled the two letters from his pack and showed them to Niamh. Surely, there was some kind of confusion, and they’d clear it up right here and now, and then they’d take me to see my family.
Val and Mother were here. We’d received a letter saying they were. There had to be some sort of explanation for this.
Niamh scowled as she read the page. “I didn’t writethatletter. Someone else did.” She lifted her eyes to my face and winced. “I hate to say this, but someone has tried to trick you. Probably the storm fae. I’m so sorry, Tessa. I know how upset you must—”
“This can’t be right.” My chin began to tremble. “They have to be here somewhere.”
Alastair heaved out a breath, compassion in his eyes. “The storm fae must have intercepted our letter about the attack and then forged this other one.”
“But why would they do that?” I asked in a hoarse voice. “What would be the point? It makes no sense. Where are Mother and Val?”
I couldn’t accept that they weren’t here. The truth stared me right in the face, but I refused to look at it. If they weren’t here, then that meant they were still out in the mists, alone. Or dead. That was impossible. I had to believe they were inside that castle,alive.
My knees nearly buckled.
Kalen’s voice was soft when he spoke. “They’re trying to capture you and take you back to Oberon. Perhaps they think it will be easier to get to you if you’re here. I am so sorry, Tessa. I had no idea.”
The truth hit me square in the gut. Val and Mother had not made it to Dubnos, and I would not see their faces tonight. Tears burned my eyes.
“I need to go back,” I whispered, glancing to each of the shadow fae. “I have to go find them. They’re still out there in the mists and—”
Alastair clapped his hand on my shoulder and nodded. “You look like you’re about to pass out, little dove. Why don’t you get some rest, and then we can come up with a plan tomorrow? Plus, we could really use Kalen for at least a few hours. A fight is looming. His power is greater than ours and—”
“Kalen doesn’t have to go with me,” I said in a hollow voice, studying his tense face. “We released each other from our vow.”